TMOV Cop Out Ending

The ending of a play serves the purpose to conclude the overall message the author wishes to convey as well as tie up each string designated to the plot or characters. I believe that Shakespeare did create a cop out ending of his play The Merchant of Venice for the following reasons:

1. After the court scene, we no longer learn anything of Shylock. We are not sure of his actions, emotions, or physical state following his sentencing. He seems to simply slide out of focus and no explanation is provided. Lorenzo and Jessica receive a message regarding their place in his will but nothing else is mentioned. There is no sense of closure of to Shylock. This lack of information shows that he simply lives within the pages and provides no realistic continuation of his life for us to interpret. This can also be seen in Antonio where we find his wealth returned but do not see any self change created by the events he endured.

2. The subplot of the wedding rings is left unfinished. Bassanio and Gratiano finally learn of their wives deception after being chastised and do nothing about it. They lack the humanizing characteristics of anger or other various emotions after the moral battle Portia and Nerissa led them into. This was very upsetting to me and I felt that justice, a large influence throughout the play, had not been achieved.

3. Finally, I felt that this ending was incredibly rushed. I was surprised to see that the final act only consisted of 1 scene. Shakespeare crowded each plot and their corresponding characters together in attempt to conclude and tie all of the plots together. This however did not allow for natural development or a flowing plot line but rather an abrupt cop out ending.